ButtWhoopin' Jasper Whitlock Style
by Fairy.Kai
Summary: Sequel to All My Fault. Jasper and Alice track Edward down in South America after seeing the depressing effects their absence had on Bella. After a startling vision, Alice bolts back to Forks, but Jasper remains to give Edward his just desserts.


"Are you shitting me?" exclaimed Alice in shock. She eyed the Argentinean slum in avid distaste. I glanced at her, sensing the disgust rolling from her tiny body in waves. "I'm not going in there, Jaz. Not a hope in bloody hell."

I laughed at my tiny wife. "You're the one who demanded to come here and deliver a major butt-whoopin'," I drawled in my Southern accent. "You're not backing out now, are you?"

"No," she said it as if she was trying to convince herself. "I'm just..."

"Afraid of ruining your new shoes." I finished for her.

"But they're so _pretty_..."

I shook my head, a small smile creeping around the corners of my mouth. I tried to focus my gift entirely on Alice. It was hard, in such a place as this, where misery clung to every frail beggar and every abandoned child. For some reason, it was easy to ignore today. Probably because I was here for a reason. Edward Cullen being that reason.

"Seriously," said Alice giving the place a quick once over, taking in the cracked plaster, rusted metal, shattered windows... "How could he live here? I thought my brother had taste."

Both of us were really trying not to think of Bella. I knew when Alice's thoughts drifted to her best friend. Mainly because of the tidal wave of depression that washed over me. But mostly I could tell because her hands would shake, almost like a young werewolf.

"He's not here," I stated. We both knew it. I could feel no emotions that pertained to the complex feelings Edward experienced. And Alice saw no visions of us meeting him.

Alice had seen him here. At this house. Two days ago. We immediately took off for the airport. After seeing the state Bella was in, we never really had a choice. This could not go on. Edward and Bella were falling apart. Misery slowly eating them both, like some deadly form of malignant cancer. And I knew it was only a matter of time before one of them succumbed to the easiest way out. Alice thought it would be Edward. She knew how he was dealing with their separation – she could see it in brief flashes. In contrast, I thought that Bella would do it. No one but me could feel what she was feeling. And if I had been feeling that for the four months since we'd left, I would have stabbed myself for sure. Repeatedly. I sighed.

"No. He's not." I felt her mood sink, surprisingly fast, into a black pit of despair. I closed my eyes. Edward was right, no matter what we said to convince him otherwise, he was selfish. How could he successfully ruin everyone else's happiness simply for Bella to be safe? I groaned. It was my fault that had happened. Everything was my fault. Damn it. But Edward should have known what would have happened, to him, to her, to all of us.

Selfish.

And Bella was not safe. I knew I had screwed up... but she was always safer at our house than she is now. Her own memories were killing her easier than any attempts I had had.

Memories could be so painful... I flinched, Maria's face springing to mind.

Alice glanced at me. She knew what I was thinking. She smiled, even if it was a little sorrowful. "Well," she said sadly. "There's nothing we can do here. Let's go."

"Where?" I asked. Back to Alaska? Nope. I could not go back there, not even for an all-you-can-drink blood bank. But if Alice was going to be there, well that was a different story.

"To Forks," she whispered. "To Bella. If Edward won't save her, then we have to."

She turned her head, the hot sun blasting through the black head scarf she wore. Even though there was no one in sight and we were behind the decayed building, I glanced around to make sure no one saw her handsome glittering skin. I could feel no bursts of shock or curiosity, so I turned back to her. And frowned.

Her face was blank, her beautiful owl-like eyes wide and staring. I could sense a tumult of emotions pouring off her. Fear, shock, anger, terror. She snapped from her vision. Her breathing was coming quick. She leant up to me and kissed me roughly on the lips. "Wait here. Edward's on his way back. I have to go to Forks. Bella...no," she turned and bolted. I hadn't seen her run as fast, as desperately as she did that day, as she dashed deep into the Argentinean jungle. I stared after her in shock.

Of course I did as she said. I never went against what Alice wanted. She was my light in a dark, dark world and I would never let that candle flicker and die.

I didn't have long to wait.

"What are you doing here, Jasper?" he snarled in my ear. I had felt his angry presence approaching, of course. But I waited patiently behind the revolting, deceased house. "Leave."

I stood up slowly, turning in the same fashion. And I swung my fist out, as a split second decision, and punched him, hard, in the jaw. I knew he saw it coming, but he did nothing to stop me. He just closed his eyes and waited for it. "Bastard," I spat. "How can you do this?"

"Get the hell out of here," he said, his black eyes glaring at me.

I looked at him. His skin was paler than I remembered and his eyes were as dark as if he hadn't fed in weeks. There was an ugly scowl on his face. "You look terrible. When was the last time you fed?"

He didn't answer. He had heard the thought I simply could not hold back. _Almost as bad as Bella. Almost_. He growled, a furious sound low in his chest. "It was my choice! How dare you go to Forks? What if she had woken?" he skimmed through my thoughts, looking into my images of Bella that night. "What if she had _seen_ you?!"

"She didn't," I said viciously. "She was too busy screaming your name in her sleep."

He flinched. "She believed it so easily..." he whispered, pain and conflict raging inside him. I moaned at the overflow of emotion. Damn his stupid feelings. Just go back to her and we can all get on with our happy never-ending existences. Selfish. He shook his head in response to my thought. "She didn't even doubt it..."

I growled and punched him again, this time on the other side. There was a resounding snapping sound. He didn't resist. "How can you do this to Bella?" I demanded. "How? You were right, Edward. You are a selfish dick."

He frowned, severe guilt flooding my senses. It wasn't much of a frown, as that had a permanent residence on his face. It was more of a stronger dip in his dark eyebrows.

"Why are you here, Jasper?" he murmured. "Go back to Alice and Esme. They need you more than I do."

_Actually, Bella needs _you_ more than they do._

His rich scowl deepened still further.

"Come back, Edward." I begged. "It's not too late."

"Yes it is. And I can't. I can't do that to her." He was still whispering, as if his own voice reminded him of her. It probably did. "I promised her she'd never see me again. A clean break..." he repeated the last sentence a few times. I waited patiently.

"She won't care if you break that promise, Edward," I said honestly. "Hell, I bet she'd love you to."

I sat down again, facing the way Alice had left so suddenly. He sat down gracefully beside me. He turned his head. "Jasper, I can't go back. I can't ruin her life like that..."

_You already have._ He turned his head into my shoulder. He sobbed dryly for several minutes. I caught a few "oh, Bella's" in there but most of it was incomprehensible. What the fuck? Just because I am an emotional Sponge-Bob does _not_ mean I am your secret diary to pour all your feelings into for fuck's sake! _Get the hell off me, Edward. I can't take it_. _She's worse than you. I'd rather spend my gifts on someone who needs it. Well, needs it _more_._

He stood up. I slowly got to my feet. "Edward, seriously. You have to come home. Or back to Forks. You're hurting people."

"She doesn't need me. She's going to live a full human life. She's going to get married, she's going to have a family and grandkids and she's going to grow old..."

"...And then die an old lady," I finished for him. "Of course, that's assuming she doesn't... say, get hit by a Mack truck. Or get sick. Maybe she'll have a heart attack. Die in childbirth... Don't wait until it's too late, Edward. Come back with me."

"No."

"You're killing her. Slowly. Painfully. The memory of you is like some fatal disease," I watched him cringe. "She's dyin' inside and out, Edward. She's not coping at all. She's an emotional wreck. Bella needs you."

He shook his head, but his scarily dark eyes were on the dusty ground.

I sighed. "Then, once again, you were right." I paused to let the meaning sink in. "You don't deserve her." I punched him once more for effect. And because I was angry. This time, he tried to stop me. But my fury broke through his feeble defence and sent him sprawling in the dust. And I left, following the scent of Alice through the harsh Argentinean jungle, trying to ignore the well of emotion I left behind me.


End file.
